Graffiti art depicting Pope Francis as SuperFran - or Superpope - has appeared on a building near the Vatican.

The street mural depicts the Pope with his right fist clenched in the air, while his left hand carries a briefcase bearing the word 'valores', Spanish for values.

Spilling from the case is a blue and red scarf – the colours of his boyhood football club, San Lorenzo in Argentina.

Street artist Maupal poses with his work

The Vatican clearly approves of the image as its communications office tweeted it with the caption: We share with you a graffiti found in a Roman street near the Vatican.

The painting, by pop artist Maupal, comes as Francis this week became the first ever Pope to grace the cover of Rolling Stone magazine alongside the caption 'Pope Francis: The Times They Are A-Changin'.

The mural comes in the same week as the Pope graces Rolling Stone's cover

The current Pope was elected to lead the Catholic church in March 2013, succeeding the Pope Benedict.

While Superman fought a never-ending battle for truth and justice, Pope Francis has vowed to eliminate corruption in the Vatican and bring the 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church closer to the poor.

He has charmed the masses with his simple messages and was named Person of the Year by Time magazine for 2013.

However, the 77-year-old earned the wrath of animal activists this week by releasing doves from a Vatican window.

Italy's National Animal Protection Agency declared in an open letter that because doves are bred in captivity, the Pope's act of releasing them was 'condemning them to certain death'.

The graffiti shows Pope Francis in his white papal cloak

The 'Superpope' image was tweeted by the Vatican

The letter pleaded: "Do not use animals and their lives anymore, for these already outdated traditions.

"Animals born in captivity, not being wild animals, aren't able to recognise predators as such and are thus incapable of fleeing from possible dangerous situations."

Before releasing the doves from his window, Pope Francis had appealed for peace in Ukraine after several killings during clashes.